The Epic of Demigods
by EnigmaticWordsmith
Summary: Demigods, you have heard of them. Mainly of the greater ones like Perseus Jackson, whose stories someone actually bothered to write down. What about the rest? Gaea always has space for more demigods, and so should the annals for them- even if they haven't done much great yet. Let's start with Dallas Aurelius Bellini, the truant pirate demigod you won't meet at camp. Rated T
1. Chapter 1- Bellini: Bio

**Chapter I- Dallas Aurelius Bellini: The Amalgamate Corsair- Bio**

For most of my life now, I have been living with my great-great-grandpa aboard his ship, _O Chrysés II_. Yes, I said great-great-grandpa. It must sound dangerous to you for a great-great-grandparent to be sailing, right? Well, I don't know how many people you have met who have immortal great-great-grandpas that came up the wrong end, but my great-great-grandpa is an immortal who came out the wrong end when he was born-a 'higher' birth I was told. He was born when some random 'hero' sliced off his mother's head. You might have heard of the story, Perseus and Medusa. When Perseus sliced off her head, two twins were introduced to the world. This world, a cruel world it was- I mean, just awhile ago you were born and first thing you set your eyes upon is your mother post-decapitation. As you might have guessed, one of the twins was my great-great-grandpa, who was the one named Chrysaor while the one named Pegasus was his unidentical twin brother. Depending on who you ask, some people might say my great-great-grandpa Chrysaor emerged as a young man while others would say he did as a giant, and yet some other people would say he was a winged boar when he was born. If you ask me, Great-great-grandpa said he was introduced to the world as a winged boar but could also shapeshift into all three if he wished so. Nowadays, he prefers to take on his young man ego as it is the least conspicuous, though he always wields the golden sword he was born brandishing regardless of which form he is taking. I have seen him use that Imperial Gold _xiphos_ on many occassions, but never to slice off someone's head. It might be because the _xiphos_ is a thrusting sword, not slicing, or maybe because of childhood trauma but I do not dare ask.

My great-great-granduncle the horse has visited sometimes. When he stays, he often asks great-great-grandpa why he doesn't make a ship that could fly, or maybe even an airship. Great-great-grandpa, who prefers for me to call him Capt. Chrys like his crew, responds by saying airplanes would be harder to loot with it crashing- he is a pirate, by the way. Second granduncle Pegasus, a term equivalent to great-great-granduncle, would tell me about the mainland on such visits, which I have never been to. Capt. Chrys fears that the gods would abduct me when he or his crew don't have an eye on me- which I will tell you later about and no, doesn't mean someone is always watching me even in my sleep. His not-so motley crew is composed of half-dolphin pirates, who were cursed by someone they shouldn't have taken hostage, though they seem to be used to it now and might not even care about it anymore. We mostly sail around, sinking various ships and selling whatever we can loot and salvage since we are pirates. Oh, and taking people hostage to ransom, also because we are pirates. Then, after _O Chrysés II _is literally overflowing with loot and hostages, we would sail to Capt. Chrys' various clients to sell our loot and hostages. It is always the ones like Circe who buy our hostages we go to first so that the other clients don't notice all the people tied up in our deck. After that, we go pirating again. Capt. Chrys actually has a goal though. He wants to replate _O Chrysés II_ with all the gold he can find, that is why we also go scuba diving for sunken ships. After all, _O Chrysés_ is Greek for 'the golden', while the _II_ is because it is actually his second ship. I have asked him what happened to the first _O Chrysés_, but Capt. Chrys always erupts into flames whenever I remind him about it. Everytime he does he curses Perseus, but I think he means another Perseus because this Perseus is a Perseus Jackson.

When there are no ships in sight and sunken ships are off the radar, Capt. Chrys would teach me the pirate life, such as what is the best place to fire cannonballs on when attacking other ships; the best place to sell different merchandise; how to steer a ship, where to sail when I want something, different conditions when sailing and how to deal with them; how to take someone hostage and disarm them; swordmanship, gunslinging with various guns, firing cannons; and etc. Otherwise, he would retell me his adventures from when he was an Iberian king to tales at sea when I wans't present aboard. Delmar, a half-dophin cannoneer, would also talk to me and tell me about various monsters he had seen aboard _O Chrysés_ and the best way to kill or even tame them.

Other than the half-dophin pirates, there has also been other additions to our crew from time to time, some of which have been with us since they first came aboard. Some of these were hostages while others were mercenaries, and some were just people looking to make a living. We have had the non-dolphins be cannoneers, swordfighters, raiders, gunslingers, cooks, and engineers. Most of the hostages were human, the few exceptions being demigods having vacation and monsters in disguise. Some of the human hostages were clear-sighted, which were the ones we usually gave privileges as they could see that we had a crew composed of dolphins. By privilege I mean we let them work around the ship, but they usually end up with the rest of the hostages unless they had expressed a wish to be in the crew- something that Capt. Chrys evaluates by his own choice or let the crewmembers vote on, usually the veterans. The mercenaries and volunteer crewmembers were comprised of demigods and even some monsters other than clear-sighted human volunteers. Most of the volunteers worked aboard except on the summer, where they would be at camp. Some of these demigods were mercenaries working for profit while a few of them just did it for the thrill. When it came to monsters, it was only the smarter monsters that could understand the rules, like the harpies and satyrs. I have noticed that fauns, basically satyrs but Roman, were among the bunch, but usually got kicked out because of their laziness, and Capt. Chrys only kicks them out when they are by land when he is feeling nice.

Speaking about demigods, I am also one of them. My father is Mars, and my mother is also a demigod, a child of Vulcan. It all started with Captain Chrys and a Greek demigod, who was the Italian child of Aphrodite. Their child was a Greek double legacy, so if she ever was going to be courted by a god, Capt. Chrys and his demigod wife expected that god to be Greek- but it was a ROman god who courted her. Timor, Phobos' Roman counterpart, fell in love with this Greek double legacy and after that, more Roman deities fell in love with Chrysaor's demigod descendants. One of these gods who came to court Capt. Chrys' descendants after Timor was Vulcan, who courted one of Timor's children- Oh wait, it was actually the other way around and one of Timor's daughters in my ancestry fell in love with Vulcan. After they had children, Mars had a child with one of these children, and that child was me. So I was supposed to at least have summer camp too- but I didn't. I refused to, I wanted to sail with Capt. Chrys, my great-great-grandpa. The gods were outraged since they knew this family so well- they were deeply intertwined with it. However, Capt. Chrys was happy about this because he always wanted to have pirate descendants, but he never had the chance to pass on the pirate ways to his demigod descendants going to summer camp. Thus, I became his favorite relative. At first, my name was Dallas Bellini, but then Capt. Chrys added Aurelius as my middle name, and he usually referred to me by that name. So now, you can call me Dallas Aurellius Bellini.


	2. Chapter 2- Bellini: Hyperboreans

**Chapter II- Dallas Aurelius Bellini: Hyperboreans**

**Beginning of Autumn**

Summer just ended, so we are expecting our demigod crewmembers to come aboard again for the year tonight. We fetch them at two coastal destination points, San Francisco, California and Long Island, New York, getting from one side of the U.S. to the other by sailing north in between Greenland and Canada. Since we are closer to it, Long Island is our current destination; last stop was C.C.'s Spa and Resort in the Sea of Monsters. Moments after leaving Circe's, some of our men found stowaways in the storage compartment. They had sneaked in while Captain Chrys and some of the crew were delivering hostages to Circe and would have to be returned to her after fetching the demigod crew.

Docked at Long Island, the Greek demigod crew are coming aboard. _O Chrysés II_ is a large ship, but the majority of it is actually used to store our cargo. Capt. Chrys is planning to make a fleet by stealing a couple ships. He has been mapping the locations of various places where we could find them, from docks to maritime museums. He told me he is going to let his veteran crewmembers and me captain the ships we get. I could tell it wasn't an offer, but an order. He is looking forward to making a fleet of sailing ships, but I haven't seen many sailing ships in use by mortals nowadays.

Making our way north, it is also beginning to get dark. Provisions had been running low for a long time- even before I had come aboard- and our demigod unit have started bringing food from their camp. He has been complaint to about it many times, but Capt. Chrys is more worried about development of the fleet. The more desperate crewmembers have asked, pleaded, and even begged me, too- they figured great-great-grandpa would listen to me; I am his "favorite relative" after all. I reluctantly did and he told me I should find a solution to it myself, that I could do whatever I needed to do because I was second-in-command- I thought that was the quartermaster's positon, but this pirate crew is of a different oligarchy after all.

Sailing in the Arctic, as in the Arctic Sea. Something has been bugging me since we entered its waters, but I don't know what. I rallied the children of Hephaestus and Athena for an assembly in order to resolve our shortage. Athena's children were brainstorming more ideas, while I was instructing Hephaestus' children in what they were suppose to do. One of our clear-sighted volunteers, who used to be a farmer until he had no choice but to sell his farm, had suggested building a farm aboard, though it might be small at first, and maybe stables for livestock as we already have some for pegasi. The children of Hephaestus were already drawing blueprints and diagrams of the whole ship and where they could start and of the farm plot. Athena's children already told me we could build a saltwater purifier that would feed an irrigation system. "A saltwater purifier? How would that work?" I asked.

"Distillation," they said, whatever that may be. They are explanining it to the children of Hephaestus already, who seem to understand it. Probably because they are actually being told step by step. Later, I came to check on their blueprints, during which we were still in the Arctic. A farm irrigated by water that was distilled from the sea. Meaning the water was separated from the salt by heating the water into steam, then cooling it back into water. The saltwater purifier could be accessed to collect the salt, which we could then use. Our cook will probably be happy about this.

We had to take a detour because of some Hyperboreans asked for help while we were passing by, which is what usually happens when we go up north. Capt. Chrys was busy and let me check on them, which was unusual of him. Before tonight, he would do any mainland business himself or accompany me because he fears I will be abducted. Why he seems to trust me now, I do not know. I hopped over the ship into dry land while the crew accompanying me preferred to take the platform being set down. I wasn't used to walking on land with all the rocking of the ship I have spent my whole life being familiar to. I lost my balance as I landed on the snow, but two demigods caught me.

The first one was grinning from ear to ear in amusement. "You OK there, capt'n?"

"Yeah," I said, far from amused. "Wipe that grin off of your face before I shove you into the water."

"Well, sorry to stain your pride, cool guy," he said in mock apology.

"Cool guy is over there, Sherlock," I replied, pointing to the Hyperboreans.

Hyperboreans were enormous beings, over five times taller than us, probably also five times less intelligent. Three of them were looking down at me and my party, unaware of how cold it was. They wore only one layer of clothing and icicles clung to their chins and ears, while their hair looked frozen. They all looked worry, though I believed it wasn't about how it was too cold for them to live here any longer and wanted to board our ship so that they could move somewhere else warmer. "We need help," said one of them. "We woke up to a noise and Larry was turned into an icecube." This one Hyperborean that spoke had some thin layers covering his body and face.

They led us to 'Larry', who indeed was inside a giant icecube outside the cave the group of Hyperboreans resided in. Larry was lying on his belly, a cerulean substance staining his backside. "He was killed," the second demigod accompanying me said, "by someone." I have never seen a dead Hyperborean or killed one before because apparently we were allies. We first started helping Hyperboreans when they asked for our help one day, and we have been helping them since without complaint for some reason. I sent the first demigod back to _O Chrysés II_ to report the problem back to Capt. Chrys. y exact message was that it might take a while to resolve, so they should go fetch the Romans first and return; additionally, we would also need a few more men, possibly for a fight since the assailant was most likely armed, and also our pyrokinetic. That first demigod seemed happy to do his errant, most likely because he couldn't stand the cold. Something bothered me about the environment, but I couldn't tell what.

It took my requested party a bit longer than I anticipated to return, Capt. Chrys hesitating about leaving me that far from him I suppose. The whole crew I was sent was better armed and larger than I had pictured or wanted, mainly composed of the better fighters and stronger demigods we had on board. That was enough to know he really didn't trust me on this, but couldn't deny me the knowledge through personal experience. The only pyrokinetic we had on board was a chimera we had kept alive because we haven't been able to recruit a demgiod pyrokinetic since there wasn't any. Delmar had told me we did have a pyrokinetic before I came on board. He was an old man named Ignacio who was really powerful. Ignacio was really pompous about his power and was the First Mate until he died. Delmar admitted not a lot of people on board liked him because of his arrogance, and even great-great-grandpa once said he would have made him walk the plank if he hadn't helped us in all those years. He apparently fell overboard and drowned, his powers neutralized by Pontus so that he couldn't save himself. The waters around _O Chrysés _was boiling when that happened, and it was hot enough for the sails of _O Chrysés_ to be ignited, along with the ones of an enemy fleet they were fighting.

"Other than the sails being set on fire, gunpowder blew up from the heat. We sailed into cooler water in hopes of getting away from where the sea was boiling, and the ship would have sunk by the time we reached those waters if it weren't for Captain's powers. We had to do several repairs and found that we had lost a lot of the cargo afterwards. That was when we lost most of our provisions." I had tried to correct him, but he meant the first _O Chrysés_, not the one we were on now. "You know what happened after? Horroble things, child. We had to start over from square one. We cannot speak his name aboard, so I can't tell ya."

This chimera despised us all for keeping it caged for many long years. It was of the winged dragonhead variety, meaning it had wings and also a dragon's head, though I don't know if it can still fly after having its wings shackled for so long. Custom muzzles were made for its four heads, all forged out of adamantium, and it was pretty much harmless apart from its goat and dragon horns, the latter head which was the most vicious. It must be especially resentful of us tonight since we got it out into the extreme cold, with metallic muzzles and restraints that will become freezing cold to the touch eventually.. An animal rights advocate would have cried if they saw it. We didn't have any pyrokinetic to deal with its flames other than Ignacio, who was no longer with us. I figured the Hyperboreans might be able to deal with the flames if it tried to attack because they literally had layers of ice and snow growing on them and still don't care.

"We will have to thaw Larry out of the ice so that we can inspect it if we are going to aveng him," I told the Hyperboreans. "We might find some clue as to what kind of person killed Larry."

The Hyperboreans, who began crying when they heard Larry had died, were weeping frozen tears. "OK," one of them sobbed. "C-Can we help?"

I pointed to the chimera. "It can melt the ice with fire, but it is rather... unpredictable. We are also unable to endure its flame, but maybe your kin could as you seem..." I stopped, having no idea what to say.

Thankfully, they were not beings of logic and needed no further explaining. "Alright," the one powdered with snow said. "Let's go, boys! If we are to let our beloved chieftain finally rest, we must... don't worry, Larry, we shall avenge you..."

So Larry was their leader... who was now dead. The second demigod that had stayed with me pointed out how to remove the muzzle, which the Hyperboreans could not figure out how to do alone. The chimera didn't protest against the muzzle being removed as ice was already beginning to form on it. I had long wanted to tame or at least befriend the chimera as no one had yet on board. "You want to tame everything," Capt. Chrys had commented once. "Delmar with all his jabbering again. Monsters are supposed to be killed, child, not tamed." Though it was true I would rather tame a monster rather than a domestic pet, I didn't necessarily wanted to tame everything. There were very few creatures so far that I wanted to tame. Chimeras were one, but the rest was only giant badgers, manticores, and gryphons.

Delmar had told me about chimeras when I asked before. "There are four major varieties: the common, the dragonhead, the winged, and the winged dragonhead. The lionhead is typically the center one while the goathead is at its right and the dragonhead will be at its left if it has one, while the snakehead will always be at the tip of the tail regardless of the variety. Minor variations influence the order of the frontal heads and the breed of each head, so you could have a pantherhead or tigerhead, angorahead or ibexhead, and cobrahead or boahead instead of the typical chimera you see. The dragonhead can also look different from the typical representation, ranging from the scale color to the shape and number of horns and teeth, though it will always spit fire regardless of what dragon breed it seems to represent. Speaking about fire, all the frontal heads can breathe fire, though it depends on wether they all have the organ, while the snakehead will always spit poison. All the heads think independently, but they share some of their organs, which are enlarged. Their firebreathing organ is shared and wether they can breathe fire depends on wether thy develop the vessel that transports the incediary substance, which they don't always do. The center head always spits fire the first, but chimeras with two firebreathing heads can spit fire at about the same time as the heads are more side by side than the dragonhead variety. The organs they don't share have duplicates for each head. They need a lot of food to keep all the heads active, too."

"What about if they don't have enough food?" I had asked.

"Well, they will go dormant and hibernate. The snakehead hibernates first, coiling up so that it doesn't drag on the ground when the chimera moves around. Then the heads on the flanks fall asleep next, but the center head stays awake to support the chimera as a whole. Since the other heads are asleep, the chimera won't need as much food. Once the lionhead is able to find more food in an extended amount of time, the other heads will began waking. In a non-dragonhead variety, the frontal heads might take turns hibernating as they are more side by side. That is what we did with the chimera we have at the back, so we don't have to use so much food to keep it alive.

"Speaking bout that chimera, it is a winged dragonhead variety as you have seem before. When we first found her, it tried to fly away from us. I threw a weighted net on it, and its wings got tangled on 'em. Then it fell down and it started spitting flames at us with all them heads. All them heads! I told Captain that this one was to valuable to send to Hades and since he didn't have any interest on it, he allowed me to lead a party of demigods to catch it. Then, while it was fending itself off with fire, it was dissolving the net with snake's spit! Chimeras are really smart, I tell ya. I told 'em to use ice and water to keep away the flames or even freeze it, but they didn't take me serious 'cause I looked like a dolphin. Lazy brats just wanted to take a nap, didn't care at all. No way they could be true pirates, and I thought they were doing it for the thrill. If only I had them fear powers of yours, I could have done it myself."

I had dismissed that idea when he mentioned it. "Make it submit with fear. I couldn't do that I think; my father only strengthen my kinesis from Timor so that it was stronger than it should be for one of his legacy. Timor could only inspire fear in one individual unlike his brother. If I tried, I would only be able to intimidate one consciousness at a time."

"Whatever you say, Son of Mars. The weighted net was almost all dissolved, so I had to throw several more because of them demigods shirking their work. I was able to hit the snakehead with an arrow after several tries. You have never seen it 'cause it hides behind the others, but it is a large cobrahead with a large hood. Of all the heads, I think that is the one that hates me the most. To be frank, I had nightmares after that ordeal. Nightmares of it pouncing on me, I still remember that smiley face mark on the back of its hood. Anyway, it went into a rage when I hit the snake's hood, 'cause they all feel the pain. Ignacio was still with us then, and heard all the ruckus while he was taking a nap, so he came down. By then, the chimera was already charging at us and my party was running away. I was going to be chimera food if Ignacio hadn't come down and intervened. He kept the flames away while we kept it at bay. I told them demigods to just restrain it, but they tried to attack it. It still probably has scars from 'em. Ignacio actually heard me and melted their weapons when they tried to attack.

"It was the first time in ages since someone actually listened to me, and it gave me a period of bliss that there actually is people out there who could take me serious. Anyway, we kept it at bay until our smiths were done smithing its muzzles, cuffs, and cell. If you are going to tame it, you will have to befriend all its consciousness. The snakehead is probably going to be the hardest to tame 'cause of what I did to it, so it probably hates me the most. At least it remembers me as a dolphin, so it probably won't be as rough with folks. But I am warning ya, I don't think it is possible. Chimeras are born from primordial evil."

While I recalled Delmar's words, Larry's remains were being thawed by the chimera, who guffawed flames of joy from finally being freed of its muzzles, though I think it was conscious of the fact it was going to be temporal and was just enjoying whatever time it was able to get out of them. After all, "_Chimeras are really smart I tell ya_". The second demigod checked Larry without being asked, which I actually didn't intend to ask in the first place.

"What did you find?" I asked.

"He was attacked from behind."

"I can see that. How did he get attacked? What did the assailant use?"

"Most likely a weapon. If kinesis or magic, most likely terrakinesis or something like that, but cryokinesis might not work on them. So most likely a weapon."

"Concussive, thrusting, or slicing?"

He looked up at me, most likely surprissed I knew those terms despite never having been in that camp of theirs. "Seems like a very powerful thrust as it left a large wound."

I kneeled beside him to check. "Not that deep, not a sword."

"Then it is most likely either spear or arrows. A spear would have most likely been kept, though arrows could too."

"I don't know any spear users or archers that would have a grudge on Hyperboreans."

"The Hunters of Artemis?"

"Know them, never met them. What do you know about them?"

The demigod stopped to think. "Heard they once had a snowball fight in Alberta with the Hyperboreans."

"Must have been fun," I remarked. "Know any other ones who could have been the assailant?"

"Hm, Orion, but he is in Elysium, I think. Apollo or Artemis, though I don't think they have anything against Hyperboreans after the Second Olympian War-"

"What Second Olympian War?" I asked, baffled.

"Hm, you haven't heard? Master Bolt and Helm of Darkness? Ophiotaurus? Battle at Manhattan?"

"Master Bolt and Helm of Darkness... those are Jupiter and Pluto's weapons, what about them? Ophiotaurus... Delmar told me about it, what about it? Battle at Manhattan... Manhattan, Manhattan, Manhattan... Is that a place?"

"Uh, it is north of Long Beach in New York..."

"Never been there, what about it?"

"... Nevermind then."

"OK," I turned to the large number of crewmembers I was given. "All of you split up and search for the assailant, or assailants. They should at least be wielding either a spear-type weapon or arrows, maybe bolts. They might still be here." The crew did as ordered, but I stopped a few of them. "Hey, you, stay here. You two, too. And you three. Call the Hyperboreans before you all go."

The first one I called back was the second demigod, who had diagnosed Larry. "What's your name?" I asked him.

"Galen, Son of Asclepius-"

"Son of who?" I interrupted.

"Asclepius."

"... You mean Aesculapius?"

"What?"

"Oh wait, you are Greek. Nevermind," I turned to the two others. " And you two?"

The male demigod spoke first. "I am Miller, and this is my sister Leigh, we are the chidren of Demeter."

"I don't speak Greek, Son of Demeter."

"The grain goddess?" Leigh offered.

"... The chidren of Ceres won't really be helpful in the North," I muttered.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt, but we find it really cold out here," Miller complained.

"... I believe the Hyperboreans won't mind you using their cave, though I can't assure they have a campfire. Galen, go with them, I will come later..." I turned to the chimera, who complained at its metal muzzles.

"Uh, another thing," Miller said.

I turned to him. "Yeah?"

"Leigh noticed this first, but it is rather strange for it to be snowing in autumn. Even though we are far north in Canada, it is usually really colorful during this time of year, like in the U.S."

I nodded. I looked around at the snowy landscape, realizing this was what was bothering me this whole time. I didn't realize with me constantly sailing around.

The three Hyperboreans had returned. "Yes?"

"You three will stay me. Is there any sort of name I can tell you three apart with?"

The one powdered with snow was the on to speak again. "I am Barry. Garry is here and Harry is there." Garry, who was on Barry's left, was the beefier one and had some articles of combat. Harry was the opposite, being thinner and wearing some clothing meant for comfort. I led the Hyperboreans inside their cave, telling them whoever killed Larry could still be out there trying to get at them. Garry picked out Larry's corpse and carried it inside. I asked Harry if he could bring the chimera inside and he nodded.

The Hyperboreans, Gallen, Leigh, Miller, the chimera, and I sat around a campfire, which we enlarged for the Hyperboreans. Galen, Leigh, and Miller avoided the chimera, while the Hyperboreans didn't seem to mind them. In fact, Harry was petting it, which the latter didin't seem to like. Larry's corpse sat in a corner, threatening to turn into an icecube again. The demigods with me were shivering, Galen and Miller loking like they were going to fall asleep. The Hyperboreans were shedding frozen tears into the fire in a sadness-induced trance, while the chimera just wanted to take a nap now that it wasn't out in the snow. Barry muttered something about giving Larry a proper burial afterwards.

In this period of silence, I studied the chimera. It was in the state that Delmar described as hibernating, except its center head- which was a white tigerhead with azure eyes instead of a lionhead. A hibernating ibexhead protruded from its right flank, whose pelt was gray and sported impressive horns and a sophisticated goatee. I figured it didn't mind the cold as much as the others being an ibex. At its left was the dragonhead, whose scales were of copper and had visible denticles at the top of its head. Two large oxen-like horns protruded forth from its brow so that it would gore anyone when it charged at them. Horn-like denticles, larger than the rest at the top of its nose, would do some minimal help in achieving this when the actual horns went very deep in. It s head was axlike from a side view and broad, with a flat top and chin horns that mimicked a goatee that receded as it made its way to the throat. It was hibernating like most of the heads from insufficient food. I couldn't see the cobrahead like Delmar had said, which hid behind its back. Maybe under its wings, which were also coppery in color and looked like that of a bat's. Other than all of this, its body was tigerlike. Coppery scales begin apearing at random as it neared the wings and dragonhead, and the fur turned gray around the ibexhead. Its hind legs were goatlike, while its forelegs were tigerlike except for the dragon claws that replaced that of a tiger's.

After a while, it was beginning to get eerily quiet. To break the silence, I asked Leigh and Miller a question I have been meaning to ask. "What weapons do you two use?"

Miller looked up, dazed with drowsiness. "Scythes," Leigh answered." My brother can use it faster than I can."

"That's because I am not scared of the blade like you are," Miller said after figuring out what I had asked, yawning.

"Shut up," Leigh interjected.

"And you, Galen?" I asked.

Galen jerked awake. "Huh?"

"I said, what weapon do you use?"

He stretched. "Staff. Used to balance snakes on it like my dad and grandpa, but they kept getting killed so I stopped. I could probably use a sword or mace of you want me to since a wooden rod won't do much."

"And you three?" I said to the Hyperboreans.

These were actually listening. "We use cold," Barry said.

"Like this," Harry said. Harry blew at the campfire, which was extinguished by the sheer cold. Well, that was unecessary.

I walked outside as the demigods tried to reignite the campfire. The chimera eyed me as I passed by. It was beginning to snow profoundly, maybe a blizzard was brewing. Though it was wiser to stay inside, the thought of a blizzard coaxed me farther from the cave. Call me stupid, but I just wanted to go out in a blizzard for the thrill. I called the other ones outside, that I was feeling impatient and wanted to search myself. Harry picked up the chimera again, who grumbled at his cold hands.

Though Capt. Chrys had trained me on a wide arsenal of weapons, I preferred to use ranged weapons just to keep some distance. My great-great-grandpa has left the duty of all the weaponry to the master gunner, even the melee weapons. Our master gunner had insisted that arrows are deadlier than bullets and we should use them instead. No one would listen to a dolphin, but this dolphin was right. I had asked our surgeon, and he said the master gunner was in fact correct as it was more difficult and painful when trying to extract the arrowhead than the arrow as a whole. He told me people often think it is better to pull out the arrow when you are shot by one, but this isn't the case and the arrowhead will often stay embedded when the arrow is pulled out. It was also more likely for someone to live with a bullet inside them than an arrow, or arrowhead. The master gunner's policy actually did help as it was also easier to reuse arrows and ours smiths had more freetime now since before then, they were always making cartridges for our firearms. We also needed to spend time find gunpowder. The bad thing about it is that a lot of our hostages died from the pain when our surgeon was trying to extract arrowheads from them, and it was harder to aim with a bow with all the rocking of the ship. At least my education on firearms didn't take that much time. Now we have a ton of guns, ammunition, and other ranged weapons gathering dust at the back of our armory because of that particular policy. Delmar had told me they had way more weapons before, but they lost most of it when flames rotted one of the armory walls when Ignacio drowned.

I used _pila_ when fighting, and kept a _kopis_ in a sheath at my side. A _kopis_ was suitable for mounted warfare- and I was going to fight on foot if we encounter an opponent. I should have asked for a pegasus as we keep some aboard on the stables, and I don't think the chimera will allow me to ride it in my usual steed's absence. Usually when I fought, I used the stronger pegasi to carry more _pila_ with me, and I didn't use it mainly for distraction or intimidation like the first Romans. Riding a pegasus also helped my aim in battles at sea. I carried four _pila_ with me when I left _O Chrysés II_, their shanks made out of Imperial Gold on top of iron shanks on top of silver shanks, so it will hit most dangers. My _kopis_ was Imperial Gold on one side and silver in the other, with an iron pommel if mortals were to be dealt with and a cutlass-like hilt.

I took off my _kopis _and sheath and extended them out in one hand to Galen. "Since you are piece of wood isn't that helpful."

Galen looked down at my _kopis_, and accepted it. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Leigh had already said it: there was something wrong with the weather. We could investigate while we are looking for the culprit, though there isn't a guarantee we will be able to resolve it. We set out toward the general direction everyone had gone, since it was the only path anyone could have taken. I lagged behind, my ranged weapons not being much of an use if I were in the front. The demigods had their weapons out in the front, while the Hyperboreans were in the middle. I had asked Harry to remove the chimera's leg and wing restraints as it might need to protect itself if we were to be attacked. The former was carrying the latter's restraints and holding a leash tied to it. The chimera was lagging behind alongside me, not very enthusiastic about our little adventure. Its wings seemed crooked and useless, maybe because of it being shackled for so long. They jutted out strangely and appeared to need splints. No longer restraint, I noticed a few grey and copper feathers in the right and left wing respectively.

The chimera sighed, flaring its nostrils, as if to say "_stop looking at me_." Maybe it was out of annoyance, or maybe just because it didn't want for others to see its wings in its current condition out of shame. Whatever the reason, I turned my head to the direction we were travelling, adjusting my four _pila_. It was already snowing and it was beginning to snow harder and harder. Our chimera growled. Something was about to happen.


	3. Chapter 3- Titans: The Visit

**Chapter III- Elder Titans: The Visit**

Bronze walls. Four bronze walls encircled the elder Titans, imprisoning them and confiscating their freedom. Their only source of light was the moat of lava that encircled them. Iapetus had been lucky and now resides outside their prison, but at the cost of enternally being Hades' janitor. The four lords sat in four improvised thrones at the center of their prison, reluctant to give up their former lives of luxury. Their thrones were arranged in a circle facing inwards so that they would always be looking at each other or the altar the the thrones orbited, which was where their brother and king's remains had been placed upon. One throne was empty, as the Lord of the West no longer conspired with them, and the remaining Titans could also feel the absence of their brother-king. Kronos was now fine powder clinging to the wind wherever it went, no longer with them.

Hyperion was, of course, the most arrogant and took the loss very hard. He fruitlessly attempted to veil this loss by bragging to his brethren, making them seem inferior to him. His brethren ignored him, barely even heared him; they had given up hope and wanted nothing but to fade. But perhaps he didn't take it the hardest as he was still more sane than his brethren and was the only one not crazed or otherwise in a vegetative state. Koios was completely crazed, shifting unpredictably between whatever forms he could take on, mumbling to himself in an agitated manner. Krius stared skyward, contemplating the stars in a trancelike state. The other elder Titans simply wandered about, sat, or laid down. In short, his siblings were making their prison look like a mental asylum.

Their erratic behavior begun soon after Zeus had thrown them down into Tartarus in the First Titanomachy. They shortly regained consciousness during the second Titanomachy and Gigantomachy, but lost it again after both were lost and they were incarcerated twice more. Hyperion felt like he was slowly joining his brethen in their paranoia, but did not hasten the process by thinking about it. Instead, he waited patiently for it. Waited for it to hit him suddenly, unexpectedly. And as he waited, he hoped. Hoped for a chance to escape, or a kind soul to take pity on them. And even though he was still hopeful, he was at the same time hopeless. He had searched and tested every inch of the bronze walls so many times he had lost count, and was always fruitless. And a kind soul? There were many kind souls in Gaea, but Hyperion doubted any of them thought it right to free the elder Titans. After all, their punishment by Zeus was righteous right? Zeus is the god of law, order and justice after all. Law seems right, he is the Olympian king after all and some had came to him for help. But law and justice? How can he represent so when he can't even control his own carnal desires? Not even moral courage could save them for few know of the injustice that had been preached, and Hyperion doubted the few that did didn't dare go against the gods' wishes.

Hyperion looked at Koios' direction. He had taken it the worst, he knew that for sure. After all, he was the one who almost, _almost_ escaped Tartarus had not Cerberus stopped him. Add the fact that he is the least sane among them and cries everyday on his throne, crying about how he misses everything he never really cared about and would do anything to see it again, and most people would at least be convinced he needs a psychiatrist really bad. Even he was supposedly the smartest of the elder Titans, but somehow he was able to do a lot of stupid and foolish things after being imprisoned down in Tartarus three times.

Hyperion sensed something nearby, something that shouldn't be here. Well, should be but isn't anymore. "Kronos," Hyperion boomed. "I know you are there. What do you want? Why don't stay at the surface and enjoy yourself the while you let your own brethren go insane?"

An unseen being grunted as it is slammed against the bronze walls, leaving a shallow dent where it had impacted. Kronos' remains clinked against the walls, though leaving no trace on it. Some sort of liquid reminsicent of water spilled into the wall and evaporated as it came in contact wit the moat of lava.

"Wow!" Kronos remarked at Hyperion's Titanic Energy." Careful there. Is that how you treat your own brother after such a long time not seeing each other?

"Spilt some of it you did too! I was going to give it to y'all, y'know..." Though Hyperion couldn't see it, Kronos was looking around. " Hm, this place was twice as gloomy as I remembered. Remember when y'all would beg me to accelerate time until someting actually happened? Great times,y'all should have seen y'all faces... Anyway, seems like some of my chronokinesis is still working down here, you are lucky. Pity, you don't even know what time it is."

Y'all? Y'know? Where did Kronos learned this dialect? "Go away," Hyperion said, now staring at the empty altar. "I will take care of them."

"How? You can't do anything but go crazy like them," Kronos said. "I just came to give y'all some sweet River Lethe to help forget this all, but some got spilt though."

Hyperion looked up quickly. The unseen being was pouring water into cups previously hidden by it and passing them out one by one.

"You are lucky I got caught by Lelantos here, all of the winds ignored me. One threw me into the sea, which wasn't really that bad since otherwise I wouldn't have end up here. Still bad though since I took a couple mouthfuls of seawater. Nasty. Wonder where Oceanus was the whole time. No consideration for his brother either...

"Then I got caught by a- what do you call it? School of salmon? Yeah, I think so. I got caught by a school- why do they call it a school anyway? Anyway, I got caught by a school of salmon before I could get mixed up in the seafloor, thank goodness. But the stupid salmon got caught by fishermen though so it didn't really go that well. Then I had to wait in this market where all the salmon were being displayed. It smelled a lot like fish, and it was cold. Really cold. Freezing cold. So cold that I think I was actually on top of ice. And fish too. Bad news was they got bought up by different people. I had to be cooked and eaten several times, not pleasant. Probably worser is the fact that I had to go through there and out and in there. Wonder if that is how they felt like when I ate it 'em.

Hyperion noticed how casual he spoke of the fact he had swallowed his own children. He no longer seemed crazed, which he was even before he as incarcerated. "After getting in there, I got stuck in this muddy something at the bottom of it. Took a while before I got gathered up. Then I had to wait more in this place where I was being pestered by these things while I was spinned around in this container. Made me think of Pandora's _pithos_ to be honest. Then I had to go to another container just like the first one. After a long time, I finally was able to breathe fresh air. All that stuff got put into this truck along with me and we were shipped off into this farm. Do you know what happened next? I was used as fertilizer. _fertilizer_. Oh well, at least I got out of there. I will never look at poop the same way again. But then again, I don't think I can still defecate.

"Took a while, but the right person finally came around. Lelantos! _My lad here_, passed by and I was able to get his attention before he left. A sneaky fellow he is, I almost missed his presence."

Hyperion noticed Koios had changed his manner of speech just now and instead of unpredictably whispering words he rhythmically repeated the same name. "Lelantos... Lelantos, Lelantos, Lelantos... Lelantos?" Each time he spoke it louder and louder with more repetition until Hyperion finally recognized the name.

"Nephew."

Lelantos responded and looked at his uncle before replying. "Your beard. It has lost its luster." Lelantos' voice was new to the elder Titans and they turned to his direction in curiosity.

While Kronos' presence was recognized behind the bronze walls and was only an ephemeral disturbance, Lelantos' voice was unrecognizable to the Titans and persistently bothered them as they tried to recall where they had heard that name. Lelantos speaking was an uncommon occurrence, only breaking his own silence to make short replies. The elder Titans turned to address their unanticipated visitor, only to find what appeared to be thin air. While his wispy voice confirmed his presence, his invisibility would have made someone believe one was delirious. Lelantos became visible to the Titans before they looked away, but his appearance did not aid in his recognition. He was slim with short curly blonde hair and wore flimsy clothing with a large canteen as big as a messenger bag. Though Hyperion knew who he was, he couldn't recognize him. Upon setting his eyes upon him, Koios inmediately recognized his son and sprinted toward him, with Mnemosyne following soon after in a walking pace.

Koios held Lelantos in a fatherly embrace while persistently sobbing. On the other hand, Lelantos was appalled at his father's condition. Mnemosyne smiled weakly at Lelantos from behind Koios and her lips parted to speak. "Nephew, it seems like it has been ages since we have seen or spoken to each other, and yet you are still handsome as ever."

Lelantos didn't respond.

"It is our... punishment that had done this to us, but we wil be OK, especially thanks to Lethe's waters which you have generously brought to us."

Lelantos recalled his purpose and gently pushed his father. Koios did not resist and returned to his throne, satisfied by the long yearned presence of his son. Lelantos continued his work, chivalrously serving his aunts first. They gratefully accepted the drink except Mnemosyne. "Thanks child," she said, "but my memory is impenetrable. If I wish to remember what happened prior, which inevitably will happen, I shall remember everything within seconds. This will be a waste for me, but thank you." Lelantos nodded and moved on to the rest of the Titans. Hyperion also refused, deciding that he shall take on the duty of bearing the scars of the past. Mnemosyne retorted by saying that that was her duty, and Hyperion obligued.

Koios and Mnemosyne were the only elder Titans to not take the waters of Lethe. Koios had fallen asleep before Lelantos could have served him, and Lelantos made a gesture that suggested he was going to wake his father. "No, child," Mnemosyne interjected. "Leave your father to Hypnos, I recall he hasn't slept since we have returned to our cell. I hope Morpheus does him good." Lelantos nodded and sat down and leaned against Koios' throne. Silence followed, driving everyone to sleep. The last to leave herself to Hypnos was Mnemosyne, who made sure she could hear could hear Kronos' snores if she could not see him.

Closing her eyes, Mnemosyne smiled in her sleep. She had feared nightmares, nightmares she would remember, but Morpheus had been gentle on her. She saw visions of the limited blissful moments she had in euphoric repetition. Mnemosyne could have done this anytime, but she would have felt guilty that her brethren could not do the same and so she never did. Apollo's rays could not reach them, and they were able to sleep for however long they pleased. And sleep was the only thing they thought of for countless hours without end, but the end would come when they were all satisfied.

Mnemosyne made sure this wouldn't happen, that the end to their sleep wouldn't come for all of them just yet. She contacted Hypnos and told him to only wake her, Lelantos, and Koios as she had plans. She had pitied her brother and seen how badly he had suffered and had hoped that the Olympians would allow Koios in the surface for a few days. She also hoped they would be willing to remodel the prison so that they would be at least entertained and well treated, sort of like Calypso's. Hypnos said he was OK with that and told his son Morpheus after he disappeared from Mnemosyne's dreams.

Mnemosyne returned to her blissful past, waiting for the day that she would wake.


End file.
